Haunted Mansion vs Pirates of the Caribbean

Better ride?

  • Total voters
    59
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
SuddenStorm said:
Yep, though the Pirates book is long out of print, and each book barely scratches the surface of what each attraction has to offer. Why isn't there a 'Long Forgotten Blog' but for Pirates?

There's so much little stuff about that ride that's changed that people assume has always been there. The old dude in the Bayou, the 'here kitty kitty' pirate were both added after the attraction opened. The skeleton chess game was a later addition as well I believe. The ride was updated a few times before the infamous '97 changes- but since the updates were actually good, no one cared.
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True. I was surprised to find out that the Here Kitty Kitty Pirate (old Bill) was cloned from Florida’s version.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
SuddenStorm said:
Haunted Mansion has had a ton of research done on its development, with multiple books and fan blogs that look into the influences for everything. Pirates, it feels like, has never gotten that treatment- which is a shame.
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I feel like a lot of the Haunted Mansion's research was done not by official sources, but by ride operators working at Disney World's Haunted Mansion ride who were just bored students at the University of Central Florida (Go Knights!).

It seems like a lot of the backstory and history of the Haunted Mansion was made up by them in the 1980's and 1990's and then put on the Internet in 2000 as if it was fact; the endless dribble about "Master Gracey", the wedding ring in the cement that was just part of the front gate's locking mechanism, the made up stories about how the Mansion's owner was a pirate ship captain escaped from the adjacent E Ticket attraction, the fabricated "Hidden Mickey's" on the banquet table using dessert plates, etc., etc.

That said, I do have a copy of the old E Ticket Magazine from the 1990's that explained the development and creation of Pirates to incredible detail.

You could also make a decent argument that the Pirate ride got the full Hollywood treatment in the 21st century with a series of blockbuster movies and all sorts of fawning media attention because of it. Meanwhile, the haunted house ride got a crummy low-budget movie starring Eddie Murphy that was only a few snack bar sales away from going straight to video.
 
S

Sailor310

Well-Known Member
I voted for POC. I like the POC song ( though Grim Grinning Ghosts is pretty good). I like "dead men tell no tales" better than "there's no way out". I like the big drops on POC, sailing past the Blue Bayou, the fireflys, floating along in the boats, the chlorine smell, the fog and the cannon shots (when they work). The vibe at POC is so much more upbeat. I've done lots of sailing trips in the Caribbean. Read lots of books on pirates. I got to see the sets for the movie on St Vincent during a trip around the Grenadines. Finally, the set for the fort in the movie was built on the former Marineland site a mile from my mom's. I drove past it all the time.
 
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Mac Tonight

Mac Tonight

Well-Known Member
Aside from the infallable Margot Robbie test, I initially tried framing my decision by asking myself, "which would I be more upset about if Disney announced they were removing it tomorrow".

My gut said go with HM, but then I realized that in a sense HM does "go away" for almost half a year as it is. So, that helped push POTC ahead.
 
PiratesMansion

PiratesMansion

Well-Known Member
I think there are a couple of things that have caused Mansion (which got my vote) to overshadow Pirates in the popular imagination of THE iconic Disney attractions (and receive very different 50th anniversary treatments), even though Pirates should easily crush it under most circumstances:
1. Of course, the Pirates film franchise has overshadowed the attraction. It is no longer something associated primarily with the theme parks for many people.
2. Florida plays a role here too. At WDW, Mansion was (in my view, as well as that of many others) improved and Pirates received a cut-down version. Thus, in Florida, and by extension huge portions of the United States, Mansion, not Pirates, became THE Disney ride.
3. Pirates has received more changes, and more detrimental changes, than Mansion has.
4. I will undoubtedly explain this point poorly, but Pirates strikes me a more...conventional?...attraction than Mansion. Precisely what you want in an attraction, where everything and everyone worked together flawlessly, a textbook example of what you want. Pirates is an incredible achievement, but the weirdness of Mansion, and the inherent imperfections of it (the illusions, the conflicting visions that built it and on some level still infect it) makes it stick out more, and in some ways make it more interesting, if that makes any sense. It's exactly the sort of thing that inspires cult followings.
 
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DavidDL

DavidDL

Well-Known Member
Objectively? Likely Pirates.

Subjectively? Mansion for me.

So I'm going with my feelings over my logic in this vote. -and Mansion has a Holiday overlay which is probably, still to date, my favorite thing to ever come out of the resort. Not sorry to say that or for my vote.
 
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mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
PiratesMansion said:
I think there are a couple of things that have caused Mansion (which got my vote) to overshadow Pirates in the popular imagination of THE iconic Disney attractions (and receive very different 50th anniversary treatments), even though Pirates should easily crush it under most circumstances:
1. Of course, the Pirates film franchise has overshadowed the attraction. It is no longer something associated primarily with the theme parks for many people.
2. Florida plays a role here too. At WDW, Mansion was (in my view, as well as that of many others) improved and Pirates received a cut-down version. Thus, in Florida, and by extension huge portions of the United States, Mansion, not Pirates, became THE Disney ride.
3. Pirates has received more changes, and more detrimental changes, than Mansion has.
4. I will undoubtedly explain this point poorly, but Pirates strikes me a more...conventional?...attraction than Mansion. Precisely what you want in an attraction, where everything and everyone worked together flawlessly, a textbook example of waht you want. Pirates is an incredible achievement, but the weirdness of Mansion, and the inherent imperfections of it (the illusions, the conflicting visions that built it and on some level still infect it) makes it stick out more, and in some ways make it more interesting, if that makes any sense. It's exactly the sort of thing that inspires cult followings.
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I think # 1 - #3 are really good points. I disagree with #4. I think it’s really just the haunted house/ ghost/ weird/ macabre theme in general that just inherently has much more of a chance of building a cult following.

I see what you are saying about it’s uniqueness though. I mean just the hitchhiking ghosts alone.
 
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1HAPPYGHOSTHOST

1HAPPYGHOSTHOST

Well-Known Member
You all know me. You all know how I make a living. I have to go with The Haunted Mansion. Its my favorite ride of all time. The first time I rode it I was scared as a little boy in the first half and found the charm and funny in the 2nd half that made me smile. and the hitchhiking ghost effect at the end blew me away. I love both rides for different reasons. I think both are the greatest Disney rides of all time but Mansion has my vote and heart deep down. but I love me some pirates man. I love both.
 
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